Ben Schachtman: So Kelly, last week WHA’s director Tyrone Garrett brought New Hanover County commissioners up to speed on the mold crisis. Where are things at?
Kelly Kenoyer: Sure thing, Ben. What we heard is that a little more than half the WHA units are back online, so about 66 families have returned to their homes, which are now reportedly free of mold. But more than 84 families have made it back to permanent housing.
BS: How does that work?
KK: Well, we heard in the summer that Garrett wanted to use housing choice vouchers to get residents out of hotels. 17 families were able to use those vouchers, and they’re now living in rentals. Here’s Garrett:
“Unfortunately, some people did elect to use a housing choice voucher and another municipality, which is their right when they utilize a voucher. But the reality of it is we've moved 84 families back into permanent homes.”
BS: Did you find any families that moved with a housing choice voucher?
KK: Yes. I’m delighted to say that Amber Bragg, who I’ve been following since last November, has finally been able to move out of her hotel room and into permanent housing with one of these vouchers.
BS: She was the one staying with four kids and her partner in just two adjoining hotel rooms.
KK: That’s right.
AB: Oh, I'm so happy. So happy.
KK: And your kids? Are they doing better? I remember one of them was having trouble in school.
AB: He's doing much better. His grades are back to B's and C's as they were before. He has a learning disability. So B's and C's are great for him. While he was in the hotel he had all Fs.”
KK: Ben, I can’t tell you how happy I was to hear how well she’s doing. But I’ll tell you what, she is through with WHA. She was glad to get the voucher so she wouldn’t need to work with them anymore.
BS: I’m glad Amber made it out. But how many families are left?
KK: I emailed WHA, and as of last week they said there are 58 still in hotels. But, Garrett told commissioners that 46 units are currently in the process of being remediated or put back together after remediation, and he hopes to have them online by the end of February.
BS: And several of the county commissioners I spoke to said they’re pleased with this progress, especially since they feel like Garrett has inherited the fallout from the severe mismanagement of former WHA director Katrina Redmon — and I think many would say that’s fair — but I have to point out that Garrett’s initial plan was to have all the families back in their homes by the end of last month. And we know he’s refused financial help from the New Hanover Community Endowment and in-kind offers from non-governmental sources.
KK: Including the offer of free labor by the Disaster Coalition. But Garrett and WHA say there are concerns about risk management, fiduciary liability, project oversight, and accountability that prevent them from accepting that offer. And they say they don’t need money from the endowment because government sources have covered the need for remediation.
BS: But even if there was no way for other agencies to directly help with mold remediation, it’s not as if WHA couldn’t have used financial assistance. They did cut the per-diems for displaced residents in half to stay on budget — that’s the money families were using in part to buy food since the majority of them had no access to a real kitchen.
KK: That’s true. And that created a lot of ill-will between residents and Garrett. On that subject, Amber didn’t hold back.
AB: “H's a jerk. I mean, forgive the way I'm speaking but he is not for the residents at all. At all, period point blank.
KK: What makes you say that?
Amber: So because when we were getting the per diem check... we were there for almost two years. So seasons change, kids have grown, you know, all our belongings were in the PODS.”
[Editor's note: Many residents had to store their belongings in PODS or other storage facilities after having to move out on short notice, only bringing what they could carry. Few residents planned to be displaced for more than a few weeks and didn't bring seasonal clothing for months — or years. In addition, poor oversight of the storage process meant many families lost their belongings to mold.]
BS: That per diem issue was a big one for residents — and WHA’s rationale was that they didn’t have the money to keep paying the residents while they were displaced.
KK: And given that the Endowment has offered help repeatedly, it’s a bitter pill for residents like Amber to swallow.
BS: There was one other thing I wanted to ask about. Houston Moore and Woodbridge both had very few, if any, units fixed up. It’s something County Chair Bill Rivenbark asked about during the meeting. What’s going on there?
KK: Garrett told Rivenbark it just shook out that way for Houston Moore- a lot of sites needed work, and there are only five work crews. But for Woodbridge, they’re going through a separate grant funding process with the NCORR Public Housing Resiliency Grant. It’s in a diligence period and the funding isn’t available yet. Meanwhile, Amber said her former apartment there in Woodbridge had squatters, and that she ended up footing most of the utility bill for their water and electricity usage.
BS: With residents in those communities still waiting, after years, for work to even begin on remediation, you can understand their frustration. Which is part of why we’re planning an interview with Mr. Garrett next week — but for now, Kelly, thanks for your reporting on this.
KK: Thank you, Ben.
Editor's note: WHQR repeatedly reached out to WHA to schedule an interview prior to Garrett's presentation last week. WHA said January 25 was his first availability.
